Product Description

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are. The Father of Existentialism, Kierkegaard transformed philosophy with his conviction that we must all create our own nature; in this great work of religious anxiety, he argues that a true understanding of God can only be attained by making a personal ‘leap of faith’.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10727 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

About the Author
Soren Kierkegaard's childhood was clouded by the religious fervour of his father. Studying both theology and the liberal arts, he began to criticize the Christianity upheld by his father and look for a new set of values. He wrote no fewer than twelve major philosophical essays and his work inspires both modern Protestant theology and existentialism. In his own time, he died an object of public ridicule and scorn.

Customer Reviews

Awe-inspiring
Somewhat ironically, given that it is ostensibly a work of philosophy and not literature, Fear and Trembling is truly a book to instil awe in the power of language. The reader is swept along in a sea of powerful words, with phrases repeating and overlapping, washing through the mind with waves of energy. Kierkegaard, unlike the majority of major philosophers, can really write.

Or maybe it is the subject matter that allows the flowing style. For this is surely one of THE books of the individual, an examination of the inexplicability of certain actions and the failure of systematic thinking in dealing with real faith. It was brand new in European philosophy at the time, and remains relevant and challenging today. If you want to reassess what God might be, and if you want to understand (without fully understanding) what true belief might mean, open these pages.

A central, important psychological work
Soren Kierkegaard is regarded by many as the founder of the existentialist movement that rose to prominence in twentieth century literature in the form of the novels of Franz Kafaka, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, and the philosophical works of Martin Heidigger, to name but a few figures.
Written after the seminal 'Either/Or', this psychological exposition is nevertheless central to the Kierkegaard cannon. In Kierkegaard's 'dialetical' style, the book explores the biblical account of Abraham, passionately exploring the tremulous psychology of the moments leading up to, and, most importantly, at the point of, Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac. Alertly conscious of the futility of his age, almost prophetic in his anticipation of much of the soul-searching of the twentieth century, the book never becomes a boring theological treatise; rather, Kierkegaard seeks to involve the reader in an understanding of Abraham, who he terms a "knight of faith". In stressing the importance of the individual himself acting with the honesty that his freedom demands, Kierkegaard challenges the reader to place himself on a parallel with Abrham who "transcends the finite to the infinite, before assuming incidentally the finite".
The book is well written, unlike many philosophical works; one does not has to pause and dwell upon each paragraph, searching for comprehension, for Kierkegaard employs a technique known as "repetition", re-phrasing his argument from a slightly different angle at several points, often repeating an exact phrase several times, on each occasion arguing logically to a further point. Paradox is pivotal to Kierkegaard's psychological examinations, and is brilliantly reflected by the pulsating tempo of his writing; the depth of the text is greatly increased by regular darting references to other works, Shakespeare's tragedies, and the work of classical dramatists particularly strongly emphasised.
The strength of the book lies principally, as in much of Kierkegaard's work, in the fact that it is heavily autobiographical, even if that element is metaphorically disguised - there is always a marked sincerity to his observations.
Kierkegaard can digress slightly, and this is the main critiscism of the novel - nevertheless, this flaw often becomes a strength, as the aphorisms that express the profundity of his philosophical refelctions, are merely heightened in emphasis amongst the psychological reasoning that surrounds them. Any understanding of existentialism must include Kierkegaard, and this book is certainly a core text for such an undertaking.

Excellent book, but buy the full version
Search for "Fear and Trembling (Classics S.)". It's the same translation (by Alistair Hannay) but actually has notes + an introduction (although the introduction is a little long and over interpretive).

The Great Ideas version will probably look better on your shelf and is more portable, but it's worth spending the extra pound or so on the full version. This is especially true if you aren't familiar with Kierkegaard.

It's probably also worth mentioning that the Cambridge Companion to Kierkegaard has a nice (intoductory) essay on F&T